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Debby Davison
Anchor KEYT-TV
Presentation to the SB Council for Self-Esteem - 3/21/03

Debby Davison says that a successful career in television, acceptance in the community, having plenty of friends and a loving family were not enough. In her presentation to the Santa Barbara Council for Self-Esteem, she shared, with grace, candor and wisdom, what finally gave her the key to developing self-esteem.

Debby, arrived at the podium sparkling and joyful. She began by explaining that her personal truth has changed throughout the years and that she would tell us what her truth is at this moment in time.

She divided her life into three phases. Debby related that as a child, she felt she was not good enough. She felt that her family loved her conditionally, so she spent her time making straight A's, cleaning everything meticulously, and striving to be perfect. She worked hard to get love and acceptance. Debby was all work and had no time for play.

Always looking outside herself for love, she married at 18 and after nine years realized she was not prepared to nurture herself, let alone another person. The marriage ended and Debby began her search for herself. She decided to get into communications, because she loved to learn and was able to "read in front of others". She began interviewing for a job in television and as luck would have it, her first job was as a news anchor.

She was hired by WPEC in West Palm Beach Florida as the evening co-anchor but was let go after eighteen months. When one door closed another opened and Debby was hired to co-anchor KTLA's News at 10 in Los Angeles. While there, Debby attended a seminar and found herself in tears during a guided meditation. She imagined a little girl running down the stairs into the arms of a man in uniform and felt unconditional love for the first time. Debby spent nearly 20 years trying to understand what that visualization meant and how to feel that unconditional love again.

She contacted King Harris of KEYT TV to see if he could use her in Santa Barbara. Unbeknownst to her, King was searching for a new female anchor. He didn't take the time to talk to Debby until he realized that she was "the Debby Davison" who had worked at KTLA. He returned her call immediately and told her to come in to interview.

Upon arriving in Santa Barbara, Debby was still in search of inner peace and self-esteem. Her TV experience in Santa Barbara was very positive from the beginning. She gets to do positive news, has great hours, loves her involvement with the community and her boss has become a dear friend.

After a few years in Santa Barbara, Debby's husband had a mid-life crisis and left. Her children were grown and gone and she was left alone, lonely and unconnected despite the love that surrounded her. She turned inside to find her answers. In meditation one day, Debby learned that in her vision of the little girl on the stairs, she was the man at the bottom of the stairs as well as the little girl at the top of the stairs. The man, she decided, was the adult aspect of herself, the child was her inner-child and when they embraced each other, unconditionally, she felt the love.

Debby named the little girl within using her own middle name, Ann. She decided it was time to give Annie the fun she had missed. Debby learned to play. She became a climber, biker, runner, camper, yogi, gourmet cook, and decorator as well as Santa Barbara's favorite TV anchor. She says the more she does, the more she wants to do and the more she gives the more she gets. "It feels good!"

During the presentation Debby shared beliefs she has lived by and suggestions for the seekers in the audience. One of her core beliefs is that whatever is, is right. She has great faith that the right thing happens. She believes that life is created by what we think about and that we all can tap into a higher energy. Debby says that needed answers come from many places and suggests that we scare ourselves occasionally; that we "push the envelope", do what we fear and try things we haven't done. She stresses the importance of being grateful and acknowledging others as well as ourselves.

Her bottom line is that we should love our life and ourselves. The two books that have been most valuable to her are Finding Your Life Purpose, by Dan Milman and Healing Your Aloneness by Erica Chopich and Margaret Paul. Finally Debby advised us to always do what we want to do, when we want to do it and to love others exactly the way they are.

We were delighted, inspired and joyful after hearing Debby Davison and want her to know that we love her exactly as she is or will become.

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